200 
THE LION. 
the man, I fired at the lion, who had retreated a few 
paces, where he sat quietly looking at me. I don’t 
know whether I hit him; for, what with the sud¬ 
den fright and my weak constitution, I felt very 
unsteady. Be that as it may, it had the effect of 
scaring him away, for, at the report of the gun, he 
instantly betook himself to cover.” 
On another occasiou, when the missionary 
waggon was on its road to Walfish Bay, a lion 
sprang unexpectedly into the midst of the sleep¬ 
ing party, bivouacking at the time on the banks 
of the Kubakop river. One of Piet’s sons, who 
was present, picked up his gun from the ground, 
but, in order to prevent the dew from injuring it, 
he had wrapped his waistcoat round the lock, and, 
in the hurry, he was unable to disengage the 
garment. Finding, however, that the lion was just 
about to lay hold of him, he held out the piece and 
fired at random, but fortunately with deadly effect. 
Again, se the following fact,” writes Moffatt, 
66 shows the fearful danger to which the solitary 
traveller in the African wilds is at times exposed 
from lions. 
e< A man belonging to M. Schmelen’s congrega¬ 
tion at Bethany, returning homewards from a visit 
to his friends, took a circuitous course in order to 
pass a small fountain, or rather pool, where he 
hoped to kill an antelope to carry home to his 
family. The sun had risen to some height at the 
time he reached the spot, and seeing no game, he 
laid his gun down on a low shelving rock, the back 
part of which was covered with a species of dwarf 
